Fairfield photog thinks big with small people exhibit in Vallejo

If Galen Tom seeks a late sponsor for his debut photography exhibit, he might consider Ortho, Terminex or Clark Pest Control.

Tom, a 38-year-old tech specialist at Solano Community College, unveiled his solo exhibit, "The Small World Among Us," at Saint Vinnie's Culture Club at 930 Marin St. in downtown Vallejo.

As much as HO scale plastic humans are the focus of the 19 framed pieces, Tom's bug phobia is evident. And he doesn't have to be tied and threatened with a stranger's home movies to disclose his queasy feeling for flies, silverfish and the like.

"There's something about bugs and me that just doesn't mix," said Tom, a lifetime Fairfield resident.

Still, "Swatter," depicting one of Tom's micro-men swatting a real-life size fly, is one of his favorites. Though he likes his food-related photos as well. Then there's the "horror stories" such as the bloodied guy with a real-life size tack thrust in his head, the spotlighted piece Tom used for his promotional postcard.

The project theme depicts "a worker bee world surviving and adapting to ours," Tom said, acknowledging that some of his own feelings and frustrations are translated into the mini world.

Sometimes, he'll just run across a possible prop -- say, a fishing lure on sale -- and seize the day.

"I'm constantly coming up with new ones," Tom said, bringing what he believes are his 19 "with the greatest impact" to the B.J. Conrad-operated gallery.

Curator Sarah Nichols praised the photographer and his exhibit.

"What I love about Galen's work is that it's one of our most successful shows so far as far as attracting people to the gallery," Nichols said. "It's very beautifully crafted and has a theme of whimsy. And, at the same time, a little surreal edge so there's a little tension in each one as well so they're not purely

decorative."

Sure, said Tom, there's self-portrait in the pieces.

"It's how I look at myself," he said, explaining "Cracking," with a micro person standing on top of an egg picking away.

"Repetitive work," Tom said. "I thought of that one standing in line at Starbucks when the line was 15 people long. I just wanted coffee and I'm standing in line for 15 minutes of my life."

Other pieces, however, are merely out of playfulness and not social commentary.

"I'll experience something and think, 'Let me see what I can do with this?'" Tom said.

No surprise, but friends and family -- and strangers -- suggest scenarios for his

little people.

"All the time and some of them are great suggestions," Tom said. "People give me ideas. Some work, some don't."

Tom procures his plastic people on eBay from a

German company.

"I have a drawer full,"

he said.

It's likely "Small World" will be a part of Tom's life for a while, he said.

"I have so many ideas of what I want to do," he said.

Fortunately, Tom said, his 11-month-old child hasn't turned a micro person into an inedible snack. Tom's wife, Maribel, however, has been reluctantly involved in the process: Her foot was used for "Painting."